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tv   The Situation Room  CNN  March 26, 2013 2:00pm-4:02pm PDT

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>> you can say they were kind of kidding and didn't hope they died before they got old, but they also didn't expect to be doing this in their 60s or 70s. it's unprecedented. in certain ways it's great as the baby boomer generation that made these guys famous became older itself and is look iing t extend their lives, their careers to have rich and fulfilling experiences well past 65, these guys, well, it's not an attainment example that they have offered us but they're offering us an interesting example. but how do these rockers stay young? for richards, perhaps a diet of vodka and orange soda. >> and other people go, oh, well, this is great. yeah, i invented it. i think really it just happened one day i had vodka and nothing to mix it with. >> though no one has said the road to rock stardom has been easy, years of partying might do this to you, but we should all have such longevity in any business. i can only hope you'll still immediate me when i'm 64.
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the irs is getting the klingon treatment from william shatner. there was an utter waste of u.s. taxpayers. here is a look at what he's talking about. >> what is it, boss? >> i just received an emergency medical distress call from the plant. chris, they're dying down there. >> the irs spent $60,000 of your tax dollars to make that so-called training video in 2010. it was released last week as part of a congressional investigation into wasteful spending. the irs has since released the statement say iing that type of video would never be made today. of course not. someone doesn't respect the chemistry or perhaps a good story or secrets from the final season of hbo's -- i'm sorry amc's "breaking bad" are in it danger of being spilled after someone stole a script right out of the front seat of bryan cranston's car. he first reported the theft earlier this month. a suspect was arrested over the weekend after report edly
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bragging about it in an albuquerque bar. they still don't have the script. we reach oud for a statement and it said we applaud the efforts of the albut can kerr key police and we look forward to sharing the incredible last season with viewers when the series premieres later this year. the next tweet, your best efforts, winning takes care of everything, so does a prenup. big swingers win in the end. that does it for us. now we go off to kate baldwin in "the situation room." thanks so much, jake. happening now, after scandals involving male agents behaving badly abroad, president obama makes history by naming the first female director of the secret service. and north korea raises the stakes, alerting strategic rocket forces which it says can strike as far as the u.s. mainland. emotions run hey as the
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supreme court takes up same sex marriage. we'll talk to two people who were inside for that very dramatic and historic hearing. wolf blitzer is off. you're in "the situation room." we begin this evening, though, with a had historic moment here in washington. president obama has just named the first woman to head the u.s. secret service. this pick follows last year's scandal which i'm sure you remember which saw male agents forced out after a pros t titut scandal. tom foreman has more details on this historic move and historic appointment by the president. >> it's a huge, huge event and the white house is making it clear with this appointment that this first female secret service director is going to shape things up, change the male dominated culture there which some believe has led to these troubles lately. julia pearson is 53 years old and has been with the secret
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service for 30 years working her way steadily up the ladder to become chief of staff building what many describe as an exemplary record along the way. what helped open the door for her appointment, however, was a scandal. one year ago the secret service came under fire amid allegations of agents on assignment in colombia pirg prostitutes. a half dozen were forced out. and the whole affair tarnished the record of mark sullivan who left the secret service last month. >> so where did pierson come from? six years ago pierson's childhood interest in police work got traction during a high school job at disneyworld where she says, quote, i wore one of those character outfits. to this day i think the experience of dealing with large crowds at the park had a good influence on my ability to do that sort of thing with the secret service. during college she worked for the orlando police department
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and she joined the secret service in 1983 beginning with investigations into credit card fraud. since then she has been on security details for several presidents and she's experienced virtually every aspect of secret service operations including fraud and counterfeiting investigations. now it is important to know there are plenty connected to the secret service who don't think there is a problem with the culture of the secret service and yet even almost to a soul say this is a qualified person. the secret service has been around since 1865, first woman in charge. >> it's still a huge, huge job. good luck to you. great news, i think, as a woman. tom foreman, thanks so much. now to an extraordinarily brazen new threat from north korea. this is quite a story. alerting its strategic rocket forces it says are assigned to strike american bases in guam, hawaii, and even the u.s.
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mainland. let's go straight to our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence for more on this. chris, just yesterday you and i were talking about this new defense pact between the u.s. and south korea in order to defer provocative threats from north korea. what are you learning today? >> here comes the latest escalation and it's one pentagon officials are telling us they are taking very seriously. their worry that this could lead to the kind of provocations that could, quote, take us to a place that neither side wants to go. north korea declared itself combat ready. pyongyang went beyond threats and put its rocket in long-range artillery forces at their highest combat alert. >> we will achieve nothing by these threats of provocations. >> reporter: north korea's military alert comes at a sensitive time. the three-year anniversary of the sinking. they say the north torpedoed its ship and killed 46 sailors.
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north korea directly threatened u.s. military bases in hawaii, the mainland, and guam. it doesn't have the capability to hit the u.s. but tens of thousands of american troops are in range deployed to bases in south korea, japan, the philippines, and guam. >> the u.s. is fully capable of defending itself and our allies against the dprk attack. >> reporter: those artillery units do pose a threat to south korea's capital. >> would be able to reeg damage through the long-range artillery on seoul itself that would result in early and intermediate loss of tens of thousands of lives with not war. >> reporter: analyst scott snyder is just back from south korea. he says officials are trying to determine if the threats are indications of real insecurity in the regime or kim jong un's way of asserting authority. >> we don't really know the internal situation in terms of
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what he might have to do or who he might have to owe in terms of the ability to sustain power. >> reporter: in fact, u.s. officials tell us that it is extre extremely difficult to get human intelligence on the inner workings of the regime. they're not as worried about the big grand scale attack, but they are worried about smaller provocations like shelling some of those islands there near south korea that could lead to a tit for tat response and really see things escalate on the peninsula. ka kate? >> this is just the latest in a string of threats as you well know and you've talked about. thanks so much from the pentagon for us this evening. let's dig deeper on this now with the veteran diplomatic troubleshooter, former new mexico governor and u.n. ambassador bill richardson. i don't need to remind our viewers, governor, but you have been to north korea a number of times and most recently just in january. thanks so much for coming in.
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this is a very big deal to say the least. i mean, the pentagon says that they are taking this very seriously. how seriously do you take this latest threat from north korea? >> well, i take it seriously mainly, kate, because of the uncertainty. nobody knows who is calling the shots. nobody knows whether the hard line ers have won over, i think, the mind of kim jong un. i think that is the case. those who want he escalation. the danger, though, is not an attack on the united states, although i think it makes sense for the pentagon and the defense secretary ordering the interceptors for missiles away from srussia and for north kore. i think that makes sense. but mainly here what we don't want to see is another shelling, another attack, another tit for tat between north and south korea. we have close to 30,000 troops there. the place is a tinderbox.
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but what we're really most uncertain about is who is calling these shots. they've always blustered a lot, the north koreans, they've talked about the intensity of the ferocity of their forces and anti-u.s. but i think our main enemy here is the uncertainty of what's happening there. >> and it's impossible as chris lawrence was pointing out the human intelligence factor is so lacking when it comes to north korea that it's impossible to get into the mind of north korean leaders. when you tried to -- you've been there. you've seen how north korea works. you've been there more than most. talk to me about what you think could be the motivation here. how much do you think domestic politics is at play to try to prop up this new leader kim jong un or more to do with new leadership in south korea? >> i think it's a combination. the new leader of north korea, kim jong un does want to buttress his base.
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i think he's knows he's young, hasn't been in the military. he wants to get the support of the military, of the domestic communist ca it dre. he has a very powerful uncle that is antagonistic to the united states to south korea. i don't think the motivation of south korea, in fact, the new south korean president sent mixed signals but i think she would be ready for a dialogue. so what is happening, i think the military leadership, the hard-liners have overtaken the more moderates in the north korean foreign ministry, people that i deal with and then it could be that the new young leader is not playing. he's absent. he's trying to buttress his domestic base. you know, a lot of observers that speculate don't really know the reality. i've been there a lot of times and things change, but one thing you want to be sure about north korea, it's unpredictable.
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you don't know for certainty what's happening. but i think the best thing to do is be prepared. but i think eventually, kate, we're going to have to have a dialogue and a discussion with the north koreans either the united states or the south k koreans or the six party countries because you don't want a country with nuclear weapons with all of these missiles with this uncertain leadership with american troops there and we have so many interests in asia. you know, china should step up and help us a little bit. >> with all of this in mind -- >> it seems they're only willing -- >> with all of this in mind, governor, when you take how many interests are in the region, how many u.s. interests are in the region, how little we know about this country, what more can the u.s. do? we talk about this every time another threat pops up. we already have sanctions upon sanctions against this country. what more can the u.s. do? >> well, one big cdimension her is china. the good news is china did help
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us draft some very new, tough sanctions at the u.n., which i think made sense. but then china has now stepped back a little bit and said, well, these military maneuvers between the u.s. and south korea are not good. so they're sending mixed messages. i think what also needs to happen is i've always known the north koreans. they want to deal with the u.s. they think they're a similar, huge power. and while i think our policy makes sense, the sanctions, the response to their underground testing and their missiles, i think eventually there's going to have to be some diplomacy, some creative way in which the six-party countries, china, sou south korea, japan, the u.s., russia, engage this new regime. i don't see any other way. >> yeah. well, governor richardson, it seems in the absence of that, you are at least trying. let's put it that way. governor, it's great to see you. thanks so much. always great to have your thoughts. talk to you soon. >> thank you. so what do north koreans do
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when they're not marching or aiming missiles or threatening to aim missiles? here are some surprising images of daily life captured rare images by a german photographer. he was tightly guarded and wasn't allowed to approach his subjects but just take a look. an image inside pyongyang's study hall where they have access to computer terminals and, also, carefully chosen recordings. here a soldier listens to an opera performance. and there are a few western style restaurants but the pizza seems to be too pricey for most locals. customers tend to be tourists, business people or embassy staff and a few north koreans can afford vacations. here you see people sunbathe, swim and sail. you see the images, very rare images to get a glimpse inside north korea can at cnn.com. still ahead, same sex marriage. we'll take you inside the supreme court for these historic hearings to hear from two people
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what it was like during today's proceedings. also, john mccain is politely asked to stop using the term, quote, illegal immigrants. his response was, anything but agreeab agreeab agreeable. you'll hear coming up. [ male announcer ] what are happy kids made of? bikes and balloons, wholesome noodles on spoons. a kite, a breeze, a dunk of grilled cheese. catches and throws, and spaghettio's. that's what happy kids are made of. campbell's. it's amazing what soup can do.
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for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. people united will never be divided. >> outside the supreme court as demonstrators argue for and against same-sex marriage. inside the courtroom drama as the justices today heard the first of two landmark cases which could fundamentally change
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how american law views marriage. today they took up california's proposition 8 known as prop 8 which says marriage in that state is between a man and a woman. joining me now cnn chief political correspondent gloria borger and jeffrey toobin. you were both inside. i was jealous. there's so much to talk about in this argument. we had the rare opportunity for them to release some of the audio clips same day. we want to run through some of the best moments. and one of the most colorful exchanges which will surprise no one who watches the court came from justice antonin scalia talking to ted olson, the former bush solicitor general arguing against proposition 8, arguing in favor of same-sex marriage. listen to then and then we'll talk about it. >> when did the law become this? >> if i may answer this in the form of a rhetorical question? when did it become
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unconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages? when did it become unconstitutional to assign children to -- >> easy question i think for that one. at the time that the equal protection clause was adopted. that's absolutely true. but don't give me a question to my question. when do you think it became unconstitutional? has it always been unconstitutional? >> when the california supreme court faced the decision, which it had never faced before, excluding gay and lesbian citizens who are a class based upon their status as homo sexuals -- >> that's not when it became unconstitutional, that's when they acted in an unconstitutional manner. >> for lack of a better term, a bit of a smackdown. gloria, to you. you know ted olson's mind better than most.
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you spent a lot of time speaking with him. >> brilliant legal minds. >> and old friends. >> and old friends. who in many cases -- >> olson's response to scalia. >> in many cases they're on the same side of the argument. in this particular case they're not. i think olson's response was to try, as good lawyers do, bring it back to his case which is that ruling against same-sex marriage in the state of california was unconstitutional, so what he tried to do was answer his question with a question and then bring it back to his main point. >> he was trying to make a very clear point. his view as an originalist, meaning the constitution's meaning does not change. it didn't change from 1791 and the meaning of the 14th amendment which was passed in 1868 hasn't changed since then. and he knew, as olson knew, that neither of those times were they, the authors of those parts of the constitution, thinking about same-sex marriage at all. so he was saying, well, when did
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it become unconstitutional in your view? and olson wasn't going to give him a day. olson was simply going to say what matters is that it's unconstitutional now. >> and i can tell you in his preparation olson knew that he was going to get this kind of question from scalia because it's no secret how scalia views the constitution. >> let's talk about one more sound bite and then your broader take on today. on the side arguing for proposition 8, the ban on same-sex marriage, the issue of procreation and children really came up a lot. that surprised me. list listen here. this is justices questioning charles cooper, the attorney on the other side of the issue. listen. >> because we think that the focus of marriage really should be on procreation, we're not going to give marriage licenses any more to any couple who are both people over the age of 55, would that be constitutional? >> no, your honor, it would not
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be. >> i suppose we could have a questionnaire at the marriage desk when people come in to get their marriage, are you fertile or are you not fertile? >> i can just assure you if both the woman and the man are over the age of 55, there are not a lot of children coming out of that marriage. >> we heard a lot of laughter in the courtroom. >> but a very important point. >> and what is the important point they're getting at? >> the defenders of proposition 8 say the reason we have to keep same-sex marriage out of california is because marriage is about procreation and kagan was saying, well, if marriage is only about procreation then people who are not going to have children shouldn't be allowed to get married, right? now obviously that's not the case. she was trying to make that position look ridiculous. >> and they make the case that what olson is trying to do and the defenders of same-sex marriage are trying to do is redefine marriage in the way we have not known marriage over these many years, right? so they're saying, don't
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redefine marriage. we know what marriage is, and marriage is between a man and a woman. >> and kagan was saying marriage is more than just about procreation. we allow people to get married who are not pro-creating. >> real quick, what was your final take? >> totally baffled. i usually have a pretty good idea. there are so many -- there are procedural issues, substantive issues, all of which -- very unsettled. >> i heard justices that seemed a little conflicted and you're much more -- >> justice kennedy raised the possibility of the bill, just dismiss the case. frankly, it all raises the stakes for tomorrow when they are going to hear the challenge to the defense of marriage act, doma, which i think we'll know a lot more after that argument and see how all the pieces fit together. >> let's reconvene tomorrow. thanks so much. i want to remind you it could
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be, if you need to know, the biggest case of their lives. twoer rivals teaming up. two of these men to take the same-sex marriage fight to the supreme court. gloria borger gets exclusive access in "the marriage warriors -- showdown at the supreme court." that will a special documentary saturday at 7:30 eastern right here on cnn. don't want to miss that. shea has been working very hard on that. i know that. when we come back, amanda knox set to be tried again in the killing of her former roommate. what she's now saying about an italian court's stunning decision.
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american amanda knox vows to fight on after an italian supreme court judge rules she should stand trial again in the 2000 death of her former roommate. we are monitoring that and many of the other top stories in "the situation room" right now. this is a huge story. >> kate, i think a lot of people thought this was all settled. knox, who returned to the yunitd states in 2011 and living in seattle was not in court for today's ruling. she spent four years in an eye tal ian prison before her murder conviction was overturned due to a lack of evidence. the judge says he'll accomplish the reasoning for a retrial within 90 days. a retrial isn't expected until next year. it's not even clear yet if knox will be extradited back to itly. and it was another big day on wall street. the s&p closing less than two points away from its all-time high and the dow ending with a record closing high of more than 14,550 points. meantime a new report is revealing the biggest year over year jump in home prices since
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the housing bubble burst in june of 2006. a separate government report did show new home sales down in the month of february but one economist says weather could be a factor for that. and soccer's global body is upholding the united states 1-0 win in this snowy game. costa rica complained about storm conditions during friday's competition in colorado, but it was dismissed. the critical win for the u.s. was its first of the 2014 world cup qualifying competition. and just those pictures alone were interesting watching. poor costa rica not used to those conditions. >> maybe they should try training in another climate next time. i don't know. >> hard to believe that is a soccer game, folks. >> brr, brr, brr. lisa, thanks so much. still ahead, they are just freshmen but three senators are in a move to head off gun control legislation. also, newt gingrich says
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...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. you're in "the situation room." happening now three freshmen republican senators threaten to stand in the way of a fierce push for tougher gun control measures. and a majority of those in new jersey may love chris christie as governor but do they think he'd make a good president? we have the surprising results of a new poll coming up. and john mccain is politely asked to stop using the "i" word at a town hall meeting. with more on that, wolf blitzer is off today, i'm kate baldwin. you're in "the situation room." it is the latest chapter in
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what is a growing fight over gun control on capitol hill. three leading freshmen republican senators now are vowing to stand in the way of any legislation they consider to be a threat to second amendment rights. white house correspondent brianna keilar. >> reporter: it's not an unexpe unexpected one. republican aides to the senators involved tell me they're betting the democrats can't muster the votes of the 55 senators who normally vote the democratic party line let alone another handful of republican senators to push them to that all-important 60-vote threshold. republican senators rand paul, ted cruise and mike lee are putting the brakes on new gun laws alerting harry reid in a letter they will filibuster democratic bills that aim to curb gun violence. it's not actually this kind of
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filibuster -- >> i will not yield. >> reporter: when senator paul recently protested the drone program for 13 hours. it's simply a requirement that 60 senators must vote to begin debating gun legislation. it's standard practice on controversial bills, but it makes them the faces of gop opposition to efforts to curb gun violence even as some democrats have rejected gun control measures. >> i don't think you have to tell the families of those who have lost their children to gun violence that bills like this might be filibustered. i don't think that would be welcome news. >> reporter: the bill likely to be considered by the senate in april would include less partisan measures like tougher laws on gun trafficking and school safety provisions. universal background checks is a stickier issue but americans overwhelmingly back it no matter their political affiliation. senate democrats are banking on that public support as they try to work out a compromise with republicans. any deal will not include more controversial measures like an assault weapons ban and the limit on the size of magazines. those are expected to be voted
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on separately endangering their passage but still allowing president obama to make good on his state of the union promise. >> gabby giffords deserves a vote. the families of newtown deserve a vote. >> reporter: they may very well get a vote, but they won't likely be happy with the result. hope is all but lost for the measure that gun control advocates consider most bold, the assault weapons ban, and the limit on the size of magazines, on the number of bullets that can be in them is also in jeopardy, kate. >> thanks, brianna keilar at the white house. and joining me now from connecticut is the senator from connecticut, chris murphy. senator, thanks so much for taking the time. >> thanks for having me. >> so newtown was in your district, and you've been very passionate about gun control, stricter gun control measures. how do you respond to your three senate colleagues who are
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threatening to hold up consideration of this bill? >> well, listen, i don't think it's much of a news flash that republ republicans are going to filibuster gun reform. we knew all along that republicans were going to stand in the way. we knew we were going to have to get 60 votes, but that doesn't stop the fact that these three senators as well as their colleagues who are going to vote with the gun lobby are just out of step with the american public. everything changed after newtown. the fact is that 90% of americans in poll after poll say they want a universal background check law. huge majorities of americans want a ban on assault weapons and these high-capacity magazine clips that murdered 20 kids in newtown. i just think ultimately the republicans don't want to be and shouldn't be the party of the gun lobby, the party of assault weapons and we'll have to get 60 votes. i think they'll be there for some of the most essential components, and i think we knew that all along. this isn't much news to those of us who were pushing hard for these laws. >> what would you say to any of those three senators if you
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could talk to them today? >> well, listen, i would tell them they're on the wrong side of history. that ultimately if we don't do something now about these mass killings and about the everyday violence that happens in our cities, it's just going to continue. i would say they're wrong on the constitutional question. a lot of these senators believe that the second amendment is absolute. it's not. i support the second amendment. i support the real second amendment and the real second amendment allows congress and allows our community to put reasonable restrictions on the kind of guns that are available to people. i think that the senators who think that you can never, ever infringe upon the private right of gun ownership just have the constitutional history and interpretation wrong. >> real quick on the issue of public support, you said there is public support for expanded background checks. but on the issue of more stricter gun control measures, we have seen a drop in some public support. in a recent poll that we have it shows there was a nine-point drop in support of major
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restrictions on gun control from december of 2012 until now. and as we're looking at the gun control proposals considered in congress since newtown, they seem to be getting more and more watered down as a political reality has set in. have you lost momentum? have you lost public support? >> no, absolutely not. you can show one poll that shows a slight drop in support, but then there are other polls that show the support has been steady all along. the fact is the majorities of americans support getting rid of these assault weapons, getting rid of these high-capacity clips. i won't deny this is a tough slog in washington. the nra is very powerful. i've been making the case for weeks and months that nobody should be afraid of the nra that, frankly, they lose a lot more elections than they win but for two decades they have effectively locked down any common sense gun reforms, so i don't think anybody should be surprised that it's hard to get majorities in the united states senate or the house of representatives. this place has gotten pretty used to doing what the gun lobby says and it's going to take a
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lot of elbow grease and hard work and those of us who care about gun reform to change that mentality. >> the issue of gun reform more broadly. david brooks wrote a very interesting editorial today saying that essentially the gun debate has been missing the mark. he says that past efforts to control gun violence, to control guns -- to control guns has not reduced gun violence. he also says this, and i thought it was interesting. he says we have a successful history of reducing violence by spreading efforts across the killing chain. we have a disappointing history of trying to reduce violence with a gun-obsessed approach. he makes the point that any attempt to stop gun violence needs to be more than just focusing on the gun. and we're not only talking about really the possibility of expanded background checks. does he have a point? >> well, he does have a point. and the fact is that the effort is much more comprehensive than just restricting guns. we're just trying to get to a
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common sense position on gun reform. we're not talking about moving to extremes. we're just trying to make sure that everybody that buys a gun goes through a background check. that's not an obsession over guns. that's just trying to reflect where 90% of americans are but he's right in the sense this is much deeper than just the laws about guns. the fact is that in many of our inner cities there's a sense of hopelessness and kids feel that their only way out often is to express power through violence. we have to give a sense of hopefulness that they can have a life outside that unfortunate reality that is married together with violence far too often. that's a much bigger conversation about guns. but let's just get to where the majority of the country is on guns and then we can have a bigger conversation about how we try to reduce some of the endemic causes of violence in our cities. >> passions remain high on both sides of this issue as they always do. senator chris murphy of connecticut, great to see you, senator. thanks for your time.
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>> thanks, kate. and just ahead, chris christie says he welcomes prince harry to new jersey, but also says don't worry. he'll make sure prince harry won't be getting naked like he did in las vegas. and, republicans gain any ground by roughing up hillary clinton? newt gingrich had some blunt advice for his party on that. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open for 24 hours. plus, it reduces copd flare-ups. spiriva is the only once-daily inhaled copd maintenance treatment that does both. spiriva handihaler tiotropium bromide inhalation powder does not replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms. tell your doctor if you have kidney problems, glaucoma, trouble urinating, or an enlarged prostate. these may worsen with spiriva. discuss all medicines you take, even eye drops. stop taking spiriva and seek immediate medical help if your breathing suddenly worsens, your throat or tongue swells, you get hives,
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a brand-new poll is out showing what people in new jersey think about their governor, chris christie. joining me now our cnn contributors democratic strategist paul begala and former bush speechwriter. david, this was from a really
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interesting poll. let's throw it up. new jerseyans, if that's the correct way of saying it, like him as governor. they don't seem to like him as president. 70% according to this quinnipiac poll. if they believed governor christiane amanpochris christie would make a good president, boom, huge differe e difference. why? why do you think? >> this is just speculation but i think new jerseyans understand it's a different -- it's a different vibe, shall we say. i've done campaigns in new jersey. i was born in new jersey. i have a lot of family, a lot of campaign experience in the state. there's a sense you have to be like chris christie, blunt, tough, hard edged, and maybe -- maybe -- they're worried if you transferred that to the global scene, the middle east peace talks, maybe that would be too much. i'm speculating. he clearly has stratospheric numbers as a governor. he ought to be congratulated for being where he is. if i were advising him, don't worry about the presidential stuff. just get re-elected, do a good
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job, and that's what will come. >> isn't that what people want in the white house? someone to speak the truth, give it to them straight. >> i can't enter into the minds of new jersey voters obviously. there are millions of them. here is something we ought to take from this that is worrying. the republican field for 2016 is beginning to take form and the entire field is competing to find who can occupy the right spot. you had rand paul and ted cruz and not only is the field crowded of those who want to play to the hard eest right edg but people who are federal officers, senators and a member of the house of representatives. the republican party's strength is from the center right and at the states, where are the center right governors who will be interested in running in 2016? and if chris christie is not that person, the field becomes lopsided and very federal. >> you said chris christie should focus on being governor, worry about that stuff later. should christiane amanpo christ wants to run for president be
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looking at this? should he take any notes have this? >> no. honestly, no. back in the day when bill clinton was running in 1990 to be re-elected as governor of arkansas, the people of arkansas loved him and re-elected him, but he had to promise he wouldn't run for president in two years. after two years they let him out of the promise. they want to keep him. that's the best way to read the poll. >> if those did translate into votes, 44% for republican in what has become blue state new jersey is actually not such a bad number. and it is a reminder that you ask, okay, maybe new jersey doesn't want chris christie to be president. do they want ted cruz to be president? >> i want to have fun now. chris christie did a radio interview today talk iing about prince harry's upcoming visit to the u.s., going to stop by new jersey, of all places. take a listen to what he said. >> i'm thrilled that he's going to come, he wants to come and see the destruction himself firsthand, and he wants to be helpful. and i'm going to be spending the entire day with prince harry and, believe me, nobody is going
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to get naked if i'm spending the entire day with him. >> i don't foe, do you really want the governor talking about getting naked with prince harry? >> well, we've had -- we've had eight years -- or we will have had eight years of perhaps the most circumspect and self-editing president in american history. >> it's charming and self-depricating, the most important thing in political humor is to be able to mock yourself. this powerful popular governor making fun of himself, that's an a-plus. >> self-deprecating humor in politics is always a winner. much more to talk about. coming up, john mccain gets a gentle request to stop using the term illegal immigrants. his response? not so gentle. you'll hear. also coming up, we know basketball is president obama's main sport. take a look at what he does, how
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he can handle a soccer ball. >> i hope you guys caught that. (train horn) vo: wherever our trains go, the economy comes to life. norfolk southern. one line, infinite possibilities. abelieve it's time to allow marriage forme to gay and lesbian couples. here's why. our daughter, emma. a gay couple in my ministry. my sister-in-law. my brother, octavio. a business partner. our moms. my son. my sister irene, a police officer. my brother keyan. my neighbor. our godson. it's time to give gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. it's time for marriage.
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it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide, as it gets to work. cisco. tomorrow starts here.
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we're back now. once again with democratic strategist paul be gala and david fromm. newt gingrich said that beating up on hillary clinton is not a winning strategy for republicans coming up in 2016. he said you have a combination of large donors and very clever consultants. neither of whom have any interest in building a healthy party. so they look for nasty ways to have more impact, if it becomes how clever we can be in
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vilifying hillary clinton, that's a party that will not win in 2016. but isn't that always how it goes, how you can cleverly vilify the opponent? >> look, partly he's talking about happened to him. he thinks the reason he got in trouble were the consultants and donors were against each other and doesn't think why they were against him. this is not strategic advice. this is tactical advice. the problems doesn't have a message from middle class america. that's what was missing. >> 1998 at the american nationals held in santa barbara -- >> what are your talking points in the debate. that is the very last thing. the first question is, what is your big offer to the people of the united states, which shows that you can deliver a better life for them than the democrats will. >> i think that's what newt meant. very rare. maybe never in my life have i said that, but newt is right. attacking hillary, it is fun,
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and i spent most of the last two years attacking mitt romney. i was happy to do it. consultants like me love that stuff. but david is making an important point, the party has to have a set of ideas they stand for. if they're distracted, which i think they will be, right now it's the fever, they hate the president. soon it will be hillary again. that's all a distraction. the central mission should be, what do we stand for, and what we say to the middle class families who are stuck and who are not getting a pay raise in 15 years. >> we've got to jump to john mccain. this is one of the issues that the republicans are moving to talk about. because they knew what happened to them in 2012, immigration. he was in his home state in arizona, and he gave straight talk on immigration. take a listen. >> i think there's a big difference between someone who does something that's illegal
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and someone who is undocumented. i'll continue to call it illegal. >> this came in response to someone asking, can you stop calling us illegal. we're undocumented. he's giving straight talk to the people in the townhall. is this a difference between how immigration reform plays in washington and how you have to sell it in your home state? >> it's charted since 2007, there's been an enormous tide al wave in washington on the liberalization side. they want less expensive labor. they want more and more. because as low as wages are, if you're a buyer of wages, it would be better if they were lower still. that's the debate that is not happening. if john mccain is speaking up for american wages, then i'm not going to finesse his exact words, although things that break the law, i remember enough law from law school to remember they're illegal.
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>> it's a civil violation. it's not illegal. it's not criminal violation to come into the country without proper papers. should we call somebody who 25 years ago had a drunk driving conviction forever an illegal driver? no, they made a mistake, a long time ago, let's elect him anyway, which is what happened a few years ago. i think senator mccain, it's simple straight talk. we love and admire that. he's making a mistake for his party when he puts this pejorative adjective on people. >> and the sensitive issue like immigration reform. thank you, both. top of the hour, a cnn exclusive, a new dispute among navy s.e.a.l.s out in the open. [ male announcer ] julia child became a famous chef at age 51.
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and galaxy, los angeles kings, to the white house. listen to this. the. >> what have we got here? >> we've got a ball for you. and then we've got a -- we've got a jersey for you. >> i hope you guys caught that. that doesn't happen very often. that is a nice looking jersey. all right? thank you. >> not to be outdone, secretary of state john kerry tried a header of his own in afghanistan header of his own in afghanistan today. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com do you want to see this? the header? >> how is that for soccer diplomacy? happening now, cnn exclusive, who really killed osama bin laden. a navy s.e.a.l. who claims to be the lone shooter is being
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accused of another word, complete b.s. amanda knox fights back. will the american be forced to return to italy now that she faces retrial on murder charges. a provocative idea to make airline passengers pay based on what they weigh. could it take off? wolf blitzer's off today. i'm joe johns. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're in "the situation room." a new war within the secretive navy s.e.a.l.s of who killed osama bin laden and how the raid went down. >> a dramatic story of a single shooter and his heroic face-off with the world's most wanted terrorist. >> now, another s.e.a.l. who is a member of the same team that executed the mission said that version is overblown, and flat-out wrong. cnn national security analyst peter bergen broke this story. but first, to our brian todd with more on these dueling
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accounts of the osama bin laden raid. what are you picking up, brian? >> kate and joe, you've got three s.e.a.l.s all members of s.e.a.l. team six, which as kate mentioned executed that raid. they have now weighed in publicly on who shot osama bin laden. two of the accounts are consistent with each other. the third is being called into serious question. they spent about 40 minutes on the ground but it was what happened in a crucial few seconds that's now in dispute among the navy s.e.a.l.s who killed osama bin laden. recently a former s.e.a.l. identifying himself only as the shooter, told esquire magazine said he was the man who fired the kill shots. three s.e.a.l.s move up to the third floor of the compound. after the point man intercepts two women in the hallway, the shooter moves into a bedroom. by his account there's a gun within bin laden's reach. as he tells phil bronstein in esquire, he fires three rounds at bin laden. >> he shot him once in the
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forehead, another time in the forehead as he was going down and a third time in the forehead when he was at the foot of his bed, probably already dead. >> reporter: another s.e.a.l. which executed the raid now tell cnn national ly security analys peter bergen this. >> the account is inaccurate. it was not a shooter, described in that article, who killed bin laden, it was in fact the point man who fired the first shot at bin laden. and hit him in the head. >> reporter: this animation shows that version. the s.e.a.l. tells bergen three men up the stairs. the point man fires there the area of the stairs as bin laden's peering out the door of the bedroom. that's the first shot that hits him. bin laden's gravely wounded. the point man bundled the two women aside. >> and then two s.e.a.l.s came in, one of them the shooter and finished bin laden off on the floor. >> reporter: that's consistent with former s.e.a.l. matt, who
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wrote the book "no easy day." he was one of the three s.e.a.l.s on that third floor with bin laden. here's what he told cbs's 60 mists. >> as bin laden is wounded, he's still moving, you shot him twice? >> three or four times. >> a handful of times. and the s.e.a.l. in the stack behind you also shot osama bin laden, and at that point his body was still? >> yes. >> why should we believe the s.e.a.l. who spoke to you and bisonnette and the s.e.a.l. who was right there? >> i did a little bit of digging around with the team members, and they said on balance, they found bisonnette a more credible person. >> reporter: john mcchoir served as ten years as a s.e.a.l. and says this. >> it's possible someone is not sure who got the target. i do think that the guy who did make the shot, you'll never know, because he's going to take
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it to his grave. >> indeed, current and former members of s.e.a.l. team six said the point man who might have fired that shot that fatally wounded bin laden will likely never speak about it. peter bergen's account is in line with what happened. this official says, quote, peter has it right in my view. the phil bronstein who wrote the article on the shooter's version received questions on this latest version and passed them to the shooter. bronstein declined an interview with cnn. kate and joe? >> that's just a fascinating story. thank you so much for that, brian todd. joined now by cnn national security analyst peter bergen, as we mentioned earlier, as well as mark donald, the author of the book "battle ready." great to see you both. great reporting. peter, first i want to ask you, though, mark, you're a former navy s.e.a.l. when you heard brian todd's piece and seen peter's reporting, is it feasible in
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your mind that these two s.e.a.l.s could have two different accounts of the very same mission they were on? >> i think it's absolutely feasible. i think no one's really going to know exactly what happened, except for the people there. and even then, the fog of war is going to have some effect on their recollection, and even in the sequencing of events. >> do you think, though, kind of as this continues, as history kind of sees how this plays out that you'll get one account from all of these men? >> that's hard to say. i know for myself, i've been in instances in combat where people have been side by side from one another, and they see things differently. and that's not unusual. the mind is going to react to the most immediate threat. it's going to focus on that most immediate threat. and that's what the person's going to recall. >> and so, peter, to you, since you broke this story just earlier today on "the lead" with jake tapper, have you received any reaction from the sources or others in the military? >> well, as brian pointed out, a u.s. official familiar with the
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details of the raid, basically says that what we're presenting is close to what they understand that the u.s. government. and certainly, as mark points out, there is the fog of war. but now we have two pretty good accounts that are in contradiction of the esquire account. i was in that room where bin laden was killed. clearly, before that house was demolished, clearly, you know, this was a confusing situation. but the preponderance of what we now know suggests that the esquire article portrayal of the shooter as a heroic guy who shot bin laden while he was standing up, just as he was reaching perhaps for a gun, isn't what happened that night. >> peter, in the end, why do you -- does this even matter? osama bin laden is dead. they've all been thanked for the amazing success of this amazing mission. is this all about ego, do you think? >> somebody said to me, this -- you know, a number of people had a neil armstrong moment here and
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it's hard for people to process that. the fact is, when president obama was briefed on the mission five days afterwards, the s.e.a.l. team commander said, it doesn't matter who pulled the trigger that killed bin laden, there were 24 people on that team that night. >> and mark, finally to you that same question, why you think this matters? but more importantly, i think to you, more specifically, does it surprise you that these -- that s.e.a.l.s, that this is such a secretive mission, this was so classified, that they're battling this out so public hi now after the fact? >> well, first of all, it's a team effort. and it goes back all the way to the people stateside. everybody had a role in that. i think all of those men would agree they were all involved in that. the other thing is, we have to remember, these are extremely highly trained individuals. the best that there are in the world. so they move and react instantaneously. oftentimes people who have been in combat with them say they move at the speed of sound.
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so it's not unusual that they both could pull up and fire a shot and be dead-on accurate with that shot and have some difference on the recollection of this. i don't think there's an ego thing here. i think it's just people trying to explain what they feel is the accurate truth on that. but in reality, all america really wants to know is that these men do exist and they're able to take care of our country. >> i think that's an excellent point. mark donald, thank you so much. peter bergen, as always, thank you so much. great reporting. to remind our viewers, you can read peter bergen's article on the dispute over bin laden's shooter, just go to cnn.com. great article. now to the supreme court. an argument today that could possibly change the definition of marriage in this country. after this rally outside, the justices heard the first of two landmark cases on same-sex marriage. this one challenging california's ban, known as proposition 8. the i was in the courtroom for the hearing. same-sex marriage week at the
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supreme court. day one. culture war on the docket. >> the place for the decision to be made regarding redefining marriage is with the people, not with the courts. >> reporter: charles cooper argued traditional marriage must be preserved for straight couples because it's all about pro creation. but justice elena kagan picked apart the premise. >> suppose a state said because we think that the focus of marriage really should be on pro creation, we're not going to give marriage licenses anymore to any couple where both people are over the age of 55. would that be constitutional? >> no, your honor, it would not be constitutional. >> i suppose we could have a questionnaire at the marriage desk when people come in to get their license, are you fertile or not fertile? >> i can just assure you if both the woman and the man are over the age of 55, there are a not of lot of children coming out of that marriage.
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>> reporter: justin antonin scalia tried to pin down olson on when gays and lesbians first got the right to marry. >> i'm curious, when did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage? >> may i answer this in the form of a rhetorical question? when did it become inconstitutional to prohibit interracial marriages, or to assign children -- >> easy question. i think for that one. at the time that the equal protection clause was adopted. that's absolutely true. but don't give me a question to my question. >> reporter: the question even got raised as to whether same-sex marriage has been around long enough to understand its social impact. justice anthony kennedy questioned whether the court should have taken up the case at all. he also seemed worried about
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almost 40,000 children of same-sex marriages in california. >> they want their parents to have full recognition and full status. the voice of those children is important in this case. >> reporter: after the argument, the same-sex couples who brought the challenge talked about it. >> i live in equality. i also believe in our judicial system. i have great faith in it. more than anything, i believe in love. >> i'll be back at the high court tomorrow when the justices hear a second case op same-sex marriage challenging the federal law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. >> amazing day to be in court. it's going to be even more important tomorrow to see how we can get any nuggets or idea of what they're thinking. >> right. really interested to see how today's hearing plays into tomorrow's hearing. it's kind of a continuation. >> great to have you in the courtroom. still ahead, amanda knox is vowing to prove her innocence. the new fht in italy to bring her to justice. cnn investigates the drive
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a sensational murder case that just doesn't want to go away. >> italy's supreme court revived the murder case against americn amanda knox. once dubbed, as you know, foxy knoxy, as well as her one-time boyfriend. they were convicted, then acquitted, of murdering knox's roommate in 2007. there's all sorts of difficult questions and issues. our senior international correspondent, bed wedeman, is in rome. >> reporter: no cameras were allowed inside but there was a gaggle waiting outside italy's supreme court. which at exactly one minute
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after 10:00 tuesday morning announced its ruling. the october 2011 acquittal of amanda knox and her former italian boyfriend, for the 2007 murder of british exchange student meredith kercher, overturned. . knox's lawyer was shocked but not bowed. >> upset, surprised. we thought the case was over. but at the same time, the issue is continuing and we're ready to fight. >> reporter: through a spokesman, knox issued a statement which read in part, no matter what happened, my family and i will face this continuing legal battle as we always have, confident in the truth and with our heads held high in the face of wrongful accusations and unreasonable adversity. pleas with kercher's family,
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whose lawyer said they have just begun to fine. i spoke to stephanie, her sister. she was very happy. i've explained to her that we will start again from the appeal and we'll get a new ruling. but finality is elusive in italy's legal lap rbyrinth. >> you rarely get a definitive ruling on who killed a top politician. there are guarantees built in to protect the defendants. >> reporter: forgotten in all of this is 26-year-old rudy goode, a native of the ivory coast convicted to 16 years for kercher's murder. he appealed his case to the supreme court before and lost. the supreme court judges now have 90 days to explain their ruling, then the defense and the
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prosecution, 45 days to issue their response. an appeals court in florence will hear the case. date unknown. knox and sollecito need not be present until the verdict is issued. this case could go on without a definitive outcome for some time to come. ben wedeman, cnn, rome. the big question now is whether amanda knox can be forced to return to italy. our foreign affairs correspondent jill daugherty is working that angle. jill? >> joe, it's not completely clear. with all things legal, hauf to read the fine print. amapped a knox has been back in seattle for a year and a half. trying to live a normal life. so does today's decision mean she has to return to italy? >> the question of whether she would have to go back to italy for a trial will come down to
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how the extradition treaty between the united states and italy is construed. >> former federal prosecutor david laufman says, if amanda knox had been convicted and acquitted in the united states, she would be protected by double jeopardy, which prevents a defendant from being tried for the same crime twice. but it happened in italy, which has a more flexible legal system. so italy could, he says, ask the u.s. to extradite her. >> now, that doesn't mean the united states is necessarily going to extradite her. there will likely ensue a fevered dialogue between, you know, justice ministry officials if italy and the department of state lawyers, maybe department of justice lawyers, possibly even to head off a formal request. >> in other words, a diplomatic and ultimately political solution. but amanda knox's attorney is hoping any new trial would end
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up with the same verdict, acquittal. >> there's no reason to believe that any further review will result any differently. keep in mind, there was no physical evidence against her. and anything that was reviewed was considered unreliable, inaccurate, insubstantial. >> and, you know, italian courts actually have convicted americans in ab sen cha, that is when they're not physically present in the courtroom or in italy. the most recent case was with some cia officers who kidnapped a terror suspect. they are still free. but they do risk arrest if they go back to europe. >> jill dougherty, from the state department, thank you for that. the shooting death of a 13-month-old boy, including the mother of one of the accused killers. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon
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this just in. new evidence in the fatal shooting of colorado's prison chief. joe's here with that, and many of the other top stories in "the situation room" today. what's the latest, show? >> they found bomb making materials in the suspect killer's car. evan ebel died in a shoot skrout thursday after days in colorado prison. a texas sheriff tells cnn written directions of clements' home turned up in ebel's car. authorities may have found the gun used to kill a 13-month-old toddler in georgia. the weapon is being tested to
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see if it's the one used in the shooting. it happened thursday during an attempt to rob the boy's mother. 17-year-old demarquis elkins faces charges as an adult. elkins' mother and aunt are arrested with making false statements to authorities. a russian tycoon hanged himself, his body was discovered over the weekend at his estate near london. he was among the richest and most powerful people in russia, but he had a disagreement with vladimir putin, flet the country and lost his fortune. now, meet the newest multimillionaire in the united states. pedro cosada of pa sayic, new jersey, won $338 million in the lottery drawing. he came forward a couple of hours ago to claim the price, and with the help of a translator, faced the camera.
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>> he said, i felt pure joy. just happiness. >> he and his wife have lived in the u.s. for 26 years. the winning ticket was a quick pick, by the way. >> he's got a whole lot of money now. >> got to buy the quick pick. still ahead, he's only 17 years old, and he just earned $30 million. we'll tell you how. also, new reaction to a cnn investigation on whether high-speed trains are a waste of billions of taxpayer dollars. [ female announcer ] what if the next big thing, isn't a thing at all? it's lots of things. all waking up. connecting to the global phenomenon we call the internet of everything. ♪ it's going to be amazing. and exciting. and maybe, most remarkably, not that far away. we're going to wake the world up. and watch, with eyes wide,
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happening now, making the trains run faster. cnn investigates a 12 billion investment in whether your money has been wasted. paying by the pound. should fliers who weigh more be charged more. and the $30 million man who's still just a kid. how a 17-year-old got rich and what he's planning to do next. you're in "the situation room." u.s. officials are spending
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billions of your tax dollars to try to develop a high-speed rail system. >> but an investigation by cnn finds that the obama administration is falling short of the president's goal, and americans are not getting much out of their investment. here's drew griffin of cnn's special investigations unit. >> so now, in one of his last speeches, his position, the secretary of transportation, ray lahood. >> in a half-filled conference room, transportation secretary ray lahood tried to rally hope that his dream and the president's dream of high-speed rail would become a reality. but that dream, shared by those here who stand to make money from high-speed rail, is turning into a pipe dream. >> this has been an extraordinary four years for high-speed rail. >> what is extraordinary is just how much money federal taxpayers have dumped into high-speed rail, while the trains are still
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slow. four years and $12 billion after that pledge to bring high-speed rail across america, the show drains are just moving a little faster. and one of the greater examples of that is what happened in washington state. >> yes, we received in our state $800 million. >> paula hammond was the state's transportation secretary until recently retiring. washington state got $800 million from the federal government. that's your tax money, mainly for improving the track between seattle and portland. and what did you get for it? over a three-hour and 40-minute ride, the trip has been reduced by ten minutes. >> ten minutes doesn't sound-like a lot of time, but when you think about the fact that you have more options for more round trips, that you know the train will come and go reliably and on time, that to us
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is the most important thing. s >> reporter: in fact, ten minutes isn't a lot of time. and paula hammond said despite promises of high-speed rail from washington, d.c., it was never washington state's intention of bringing high-speed rail like the bullet trains of japan and europe to this section of the country. the top speed here is now 79 miles an hour. average speed is in the low 50s. >> i don't know whether we'll ever want high-speed rail. what we want in our state, and west coast region, we want the ability of our community to be connected so that we can provide good travel, a daily business trip between seattle and portland, and the opportunity not to have to fight traffic. >> thank you. >> reporter: that is a far cry from the vision of high-speed rail announced by the president, the vice president and the sk of transportation back in 2009, when americans were told
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japanese and european style trains would connect our cities. >> what we're talking about is a vision for high-speed rail in america. >> reporter: $12 billion later, that vision has turned out 134 scattered projects across the country that have mostly made slow trains a little faster. keeping them honest, we wanted to know why, after his speech to the high-speed rail association, we were given a brief interview with ray lahood. >> i'm wondering after four years and $12 billion spent, if you're disappointed of where high-speed rail is. where is the high-speed rail? >> the high-speed rail in four years, we've invested $12 billion. that's just the federal money. >> but so much of the money has been spent really making the old trains go a little faster. seattle to portland -- >> that's pretty fast. >> seattle to portland, you've spent $800 million and the trip time has been reduced by ten
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minutes. >> i think people like the investments we're making. there's so much enthusiasm in the united states with high-speed rail. we've seen these investments get to trains to higher speeds, improve service, we've seen the investments improve on-time service to the point where now amtrak is at an all-time ridership high, without these investments i don't think that would have happened. >> but you want true high-speed rail, right? >> in some parts of the country. we're going to have trains going 200 miles an hour. >> when sf. >> as soon as we can get the kind of work that needs to be done started. >> reporter: what that is, exactly, is unclear. there is only one true high-speed rail line actually envisioned in the entire united states. it's the california plan to bring a 200-mile-an-hour train from san francisco to los angeles. it's been in the planning stages
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for nearly ten years, and not a single piece of rail has been laid. back in seattle, one day they do hope to reach speeds of perhaps 110 miles an hour in some sections of the track. but at what price. what we do know, this year federal taxpayers will send out another $1 billion for high-speed rail. drew griffin joins us now. any reaction from secretary lahood since your piece first aired last night on "anderson cooper 360"? >> joe, we vice president heard anything. lots of noise on the blog, the story picked up on a lot of internet news sites. but from the department of transportation and transportation secretary, nothing at all. that may be understandable. this guy has been going around the country warning about the sequestration budget cuts in his department. and shutting down small airports' traffic controls. maybe trying to defend billions
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going to these high-speed, what we could call higher speed rail projects, because they're really not high-speed rail. >> that would really be a very tough sell. thanks so much for that, drew. north korea levels a serious new threat, putting an entire island of koreans smack dab in the middle. matthew chance takes us there for a story you'll only see on cnn. fore a growing majority of americans have come to
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believe it's time to allow marriage for gay and lesbian couples. here's why. our daughter, emma. a gay couple in my ministry. my sister-in-law. my brother, octavio. a business partner. our moms. my son. my sister irene, a police officer. my brother keyan. my neighbor. our godson. it's time to give gay and lesbian couples the freedom to marry. it's time for marriage. to tell real people about our new 15 under $15 menu! oh my goodness... oh my gosh, this looks amazing... [ male announcer ] 15 entrees under $15! it's our new maine stays! seafood, chicken, and more! ooh! the tilapia with roasted vegetables. i'm actually looking at the wood grilled chicken with portobello wine sauce. that pork chop was great. no more fast food friday's. we're going to go to red lobster...
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>> north korea's rhetoric and the threats that they engage in, follow a pattern designed to raise tensions, and intimidate others. >> we're fully capable of defending ourselves, fully capable of defending our allies in south korea and japan. the. >> i want to take you to another target of north korea's fiery threats. you'll only see it here on cnn. >> an island off south korea close to the border with the north, it's been attacked before. matthew chance is there. >> reporter: across the yellow sea, the island flash point in the korean sandoff. we traveled by high-speed boat within sight of north korean waters where tensions are making waves once more. we're on this ferry heading off the south korean coast towards the island of yeonpyeong, about
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two hours' boat ride away. very chose indeed to the very intense maritime border with the north. in the past few weeks north korea has been threatening to attack the island, urging its inhabitants to evacuate. the kind of threats that many south koreans may just say as a glimpse of bluster. but for the people of pyongyang, they say it's real indeed. and this is why. back in 2010, yeonpyeong was attacked by north korean artillery of the there was no warning, shells, just rained down on the small island, causing widespread panic and destruction. at least four south koreans were killed. memories of the attack are still fresh. we finally arrived on dry land, and came straight to the spot where the attacks took place. you can see a few of the destroyed houses have been preserved as a reminder.
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there are scorched walls here, some of them pock marked with shrapnel and broken glass. family rooms have been burned out and left empty. all quite a poignant monument to the people who were killed here. and of course, to the danger to this island, that north korea continues to pose. islanders say renewed north korean threats are bringing anxieties flooding back. it's been almost three years, and i remember how my heart sank when i witnessed the attacks. now i'm feeling more threats and i'm having pains in my chest all over again. >> reporter: images like these, that kim jong-un, being flanked by the same military units that carried out the strike. they're adding pressure on south korea to respond with tough action next time.
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>> translator: if the north were to carry out another provocation like in 2010, i personally hope that my government will respond very strongly. by doing this, the north will not see south korea as an easy target, but as a strong country instead. >> reporter: but a strong response over these tiny islands risks plunging the korean peninsula into all-out war. these yellow sea tensions could prove dangerous indeed. while an attempt to deter a future attack like in 2010, the united states has bolstered its military ties with the south korean, lowering the threshold that it would join with the allies in a conflict with pyongyang. it's not clear yet whether that deter represent will have a positive effect. kate and joe, back to you. >> matthew chance reporting. airline passengers, do you think taking off your shoes is annoying. now you might have to get a lot
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more personal at the airport. [ lorenzo ] i'm lorenzo. i work for 47 different companies. well, technically i work for one. that company, the united states postal service® works for thousands of home businesses. because at usps.com® you can pay, print and have your packages picked up for free. i can even drop off free boxes. i wear a lot of hats. well, technically i wear one. the u.s. postal service®, no business too small. well, technically i wear one. abelieve it's time to allow marriage forme to gay and lesbian couples. here's why. our daughter, emma. a gay couple in my ministry. my sister-in-law. my brother, octavio. a business partner.
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we just received a response from esquire magazine to our report. today earlier on the conflicting accounts of who killed osama bin laden. a navy s.e.a.l. who spoke with cnn national security analyst peter bergen is disputing an account earlier in esquire magazine by a man who claims to be the sole shooter. in the statement the magazine says the following. it says, the esquire article, the shoot ever, the man who killed osama bin laden in the
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march 13th issue is based on information from different sources including the shooter himself as well as detailed description of mission debrief. we stand by our story. read peter bergen's account, his story on cnn.com. as if flying didn't already cost an arm and a leg. basing your fare on how much you way, lisa sylvester would fly a lot less than i would. but my question is, if you pay more, do you get more frequent flier points. >> you get a bigger seat if you're paying more, maybe more legroom. >> already did that. >> should passengers have to step on a scale in order to step on a plane. there's actually one airline that's already doing this. the price of an airline ticket
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varies depending how far in advance you buy your ticket, the time of day you want to fly, and the day itself. but ha if airlines also factored in something else, how much you weigh. a study by a norwegian professor suggests airline set prices based on a passenger's weight. >> some would say, that is discrimination. but because i am talking about economics, it's not discriminatory at all. >> reporter: in a paper of the journal of revenue and pricing reducing the weight on a plane by little more than two pounds is a fuel savings of $3,000 a year. he proposes passengers self declare their weight when they book a ticket. on a flight between d.c. and chicago, at $2 per pound, sally wearing 120 pounds, her ticket would be $240. paul on the same flight is 180 pounds. his ticket price is $360. and steve who weighs 270 pounds
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would pay $540. so you might think this is a strange idea but believe it or not there's an airline already doing this. samoa air charges passengers by the pound. southwest airlines sometimes requires oversized passengers to book two seats. and when commercial air travel first began, that's the way it was done. see that man standing on the scale? one group that's calling this idea ridiculous? the national association to advance fat acceptance. >> treating people like freight is not -- is not a good alternative. it's a pr nightmare for the airlines to even consider such a thing. >> reporter: at the airport, parents thought it was a good idea to charge by the pound. >> i mean, i guess for kids it might be a good idea because then you don't have to pay full fare for children. >> reporter: on the whole -- >> men are larger than women.
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will they have to pay more to fly? that part doesn't make sense to me. >> i don't see how they would do that. i think it's discriminatory. >> reporter: it's an idea that didn't seem to fly. the economist suggesting charging by the combined weight of the passenger and their luggage. now, the group representing the airline industry says it's up to individual airlines to price and sell the products as they choose according to market but that said the air transport association isn't aware of any other airline other than samoa to weigh you before you can get on the plane. >> i'm fine if they want me to self declare. i weigh 100 pounds. >> you would be good to go. >> oh, it raises all kinds of questions. >> of course. >> what about the economy? >> and maybe a pregnant woman? charge a pregnant woman showing up because she's pregnant? >> never going to fly. >> it's a good talker, though. >> putting the scales right at tsa. no. >> sumo wrestling would stay in
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japan. >> thanks, lisa. now to an excuse plenty of people use and can you really become addicted to shopping? cnn's erin burnett is going "out front" on that story. we have probably both joked about this. addicted to shopping. >> yes. >> a real question. >> absolutely. people say, oh, you can't be addicted to shopping or sex. you get the same eye roll presenting either one of those particular ailments. but the guy who wrote "friday night lights" written a cover story for "gq" and it is my "gucci addiction." there's something incredible about it. it's coming up at the top of the hour and we'll be talking about something that could be dramatically changing in the skies an instead of an evil eye when you're texting under your coat when you're -- as we are about to go up, the way we are in air experience could be completely online. we have that kind of top of the hour, too.
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>> honestly, you don't have a poker face. you know that's exactly you doing that. >> i know. i can't lie. i can't lie. >> good stuff. >> you always think am i sitting next to someone who's worried about, you know, the plane? i'm sensitive to that. i don't want to scare them but i'm -- >> turn your device off, erin. okay? talk to you soon. thanks. top of the hour. >> very skeptical about those warnings. he's 17 years old and made millions. we'll tell you how he got rich and what he's planning to do with it next. heard even in stupid loud places. to prove it, we set up our call center right here... [ chirp ] all good? [ chirp ] getty up. call me! seriously, this is really happening! [ cellphone rings ] hello? it's a giant helicopter ma'am. [ male announcer ] get it done [ chirp ] with the ultra-rugged kyocera torque, only from sprint direct connect. buy one get four free for your business.
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that your mouth is under attack, from food particles and bacteria. try fixodent. it helps create a food seal defense for a clean mouth and kills bacteria for fresh breath. ♪ fixodent, and forget it. he is 17 years old and like a lot of teenagers he has a job on the side. >> yes. that's right. this one apparently earned him $30 million. here's cnn's dan simon. >> reporter: kate and joe, consider this. the teenage entrepreneur wasn't born when yahoo! was founded in 1994. yahoo! which is trying to redine itself in the smartphone era thinks the london high school
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student and company can help. >> on a single screen with gorgeous photography. >> reporter: nick started to build his app at just 15. >> tell it your interests and shows you summarized content and then 400 characters. that's more than a tweet. >> reporter: at age 17, nick is selling it to yahoo! for a reported $30 million. yahoo! under new ceo mayer is trying to become a bigger player in mobile and plans to integrate the technology in its own apps. >> for a technology like ours or any others, it is such a big platform to leverage. >> reporter: such acquisitions are common in silicone valley but as charlie rose pointed out on cbs this morning -- >> like he was 17 and sounded like he was 40. >> wide beyond his years. >> reporter: nick joins a list of notable technology founders who started on the road to success at a very young age. bill gates, 20 years old when he started microsoft.
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steve jobs, 21 when he started apple. mark zuckerberg, 19 when he launched facebook. >> i need theal go rhythm. >> all right. >> i need it. >> reporter: there's larry paige and sergei, 24 and 23 respectfully founding. nick has a year and a half of high school and started coding when he was 12. >> i told myself to program with books and video tutorials and in the long term i would love to start another company one day if i'm fortunate enough to but for the future i'm really excited about working with yahoo! to integrate our technology and also look at other opportunities in the mobile ecosystem. >> reporter: the young man doesn't have specific plans for the newfound wealth but the cash going in to a trust fund co-managed by his parents. nick plans to finish high school but will soon be a yahoo!
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employee in the london offices and here's how fast these things happen. the app went online in november and by december he was already in discussions with yahoo!. kate and joe?